PYONGYANG, North Korea >> Two American tourists
charged with "anti-state" crimes in North Korea said Friday they expect
to be tried soon and pleaded for help from the U.S. government to secure
their release from what they say could be long prison terms.

In
their first appearance since being detained more than three months ago,
Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle told a local AP Television
News crew that they were in good health and were being treated well.
They also said they were allowed to take daily walks. The brief meeting
was conducted under the condition that the specific location not be
disclosed.

Fowle said he fears his situation will get much worse once he goes on trial.

"The
horizon for me is pretty dark," he said. "I don't know what the
worst-case scenario would be, but I need help to extricate myself from
this situation. I ask the government for help in that regards."

It
was not clear whether they were speaking on their own initiative, or if
their comments were coerced. The TV crew was permitted to ask them
questions.

North Korea says the two committed hostile acts which
violated their status as tourists. It has announced that authorities are
preparing to bring them before a court, but has not yet specified what
they did that was considered hostile or illegal, or what kind of
punishment they might face. The date of the trial has not been
announced.

Ri Tong II, a North Korean diplomat, declined to answer
questions about the Americans at a news conference Friday at the United
Nations. But when pressed in a follow-up question he said their cases
were "legal issues" and they had "violated our law."

Fowle arrived
in North Korea on April 29. He is suspected of leaving a Bible in a
nightclub in the northern port city of Chongjin, but a spokesman for
Fowle's family said the 56-year-old from Miamisburg, Ohio, was not on a
mission for his church. Fowle works in a city streets department. He has
a wife and three children, ages 9, 10, and 12.

"The window is
closing on that process. It will be coming relatively soon, maybe within
a month," Fowle said of his trial. "I'm anxious to get home, I'm sure
all of us are."

Fowle also produced a letter he said he had written summarizing his experience in North Korea.

Less is known about Miller, or about what specific crime he allegedly committed.

North
Korea's state-run media have said the 24-year-old entered the country
April 10 with a tourist visa, but tore it up at the airport and shouted
that he wanted to seek asylum. A large number of Western tourists
visited Pyongyang in April to run in the annual Pyongyang Marathon or
attend related events. Miller came at that time, but tour organizers say
he was not planning to join the marathon.

"I expect soon I will
be going to trial for my crime and be sent to prison," Miller said. "I
have been requesting help from the American government, but have
received no reply."

The attorney for Fowle's family said Friday his wife hadn't seen the video, but had read news reports about his comments.

"I
can tell you that she is very upset, as you can imagine," said attorney
Timothy Tepe. He said he and the family were still gathering
information and likely would have a statement on Monday.

North Korea has also been holding another American, Kenneth Bae, since November 2012.

Bae,
a Korean-American missionary who turned 46 on Friday, told a
Japan-based pro-North Korean news organization earlier this week that he
felt "abandoned" by the U.S. government. He is serving a sentence of 15
years of hard labor for what North Korea has claimed were hostile acts
against the state. However, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf
said Thursday the agency is in regular contact with Bae's family.

Last
summer, authorities moved Bae from a work camp to a hospital because of
failing health and weight loss. He was sent back to the work camp
earlier this year, only to be taken again to a hospital less than two
months later. His family says he suffers from diabetes, an enlarged
heart, liver problems and back pain.

Bae's sister, Terri Chung, said in a statement Thursday it was the first word the family has had of Bae since April.

"After
months of silence, it is devastating to hear Kenneth talk about
'feeling abandoned by the United States government,'" she said.
"Although we acknowledge and appreciate all the efforts the U.S. State
Department has been making behind the scenes to secure Kenneth's
release, the fact remains that after almost two years, Kenneth still
remains imprisoned in North Korea."

North Korea has in the past
waited for senior U.S. officials to come to the country to secure the
release of some American detainees. Both Fowle and Miller suggested that
intervention from the highest levels in Washington -- possibly a visit
by a former president -- might be needed to gain their release.

The
U.S. has repeatedly offered to send its envoy for North Korean human
rights issues, Robert King, to Pyongyang to seek a pardon for Bae and
other U.S. detainees but without success.

Washington has no
diplomatic ties with North Korea and no embassy in Pyongyang. Instead,
the Swedish Embassy takes responsibility for U.S. consular affairs
there.

Though a small number of U.S. citizens visit North Korea
each year as tourists, the State Department strongly advises against it.
After Miller's detention, Washington updated its travel warning to note
that over the past 18 months, "North Korea detained several U.S.
citizens who were part of organized tours."

North Korea has been
strongly pushing tourism lately in an effort to bring in foreign cash.
But despite its efforts to bring in more visitors -- mostly from
neighboring China -- it remains highly sensitive to any actions it
considers political and is particularly wary of anything it deems to be
Christian proselytizing.

In March, North Korea deported an
Australian missionary detained for spreading Christianity in the country
after he apologized and requested forgiveness.

___

Associated Press writers Trenton Daniel at the United Nations and Dan Sewell in Cincinnati, Ohio, contributed to this report.

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Charliegruntwrote:

These people should have the good sense to know what they're getting into when the visit hostile countries like N. Korea.

on August 1,2014 | 05:09AM

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ezridahwrote:

if you want to visit korea, visit the southern saner one..

on August 1,2014 | 07:08AM

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torxmanwrote:

They belong there for being so stupid to go there in the first place.

on August 1,2014 | 07:15AM

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pcmanwrote:

Nobody needs to visit North Korea, unless you are an id10t. This is a good lesson for everyone thinking about it. Leave them there until North Korea gets sick of them. They may have been arrested as a way of getting something from the US, like aid, break on nuclear testing, etc. Don't negotiate as a policy. Two people in the calaboose does not shape national policy.

on August 1,2014 | 08:41AM

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BO0o07wrote:

Your comments are right on. If they knew the risks involved by visiting North Korea and still went ahead with a visit, they are idiots. Thinking that North Korea will change is naïve and childish, just like the behavior of North Korea. As long as the communist rule North Korea, nothing will change. Tourist will only see what the government want them to see. Like a spoiled child, ignore them long enough, they will change or implode.

on August 1,2014 | 11:39AM

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cojefwrote:

Can't fathom anyone with kids 9,10, and 12 visiting a very hostile country like North Korea. Commitment for a noble cause, perhaps? Should have spent the trip expense on his kids.

on August 1,2014 | 07:58AM

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Rickyboywrote:

Entered at their own risk.

on August 1,2014 | 08:12AM

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bullturdwrote:

I'm surprised no Americans have hiked the mountains in South Korea and mistakenly "May have strayed" into North Korea and cried foul after being captured by NK.